Scars
by His Lil' Half-Blood Princess
Summary: Severus Snape is covered in scars. And some scars can't be healed. One-shot. CHILD ABUSE


**Scars**

_My first story of 2011! Yeah! And, of course, my first story in my competition with SS19. 1/51! _

**XxXxX**

Look at me and what do you see?

The hated Potions Master. The bat of the dungeons. The Head of Slytherin.

You can see the angry smirk on my face. My cold black eyes. My pale face. My black robes.

But if you stripped me down, what would you see?

You would see scars. My body is a museum of scars. Each scar has a story. Point to one, I'll tell you its tale. Some are quick and easy to tell. Others are long and painful to relive. They go up and down my arms and legs, across my stomach. They're on my wrists. I even have one small one on my face. Look at my back. What do you see?

Scars on top of scars, various shades of red, brown, and purple. Bruises that never healed. Layers of cuts. The ones on top are the most recent. The ones at the bottom are from when he started beating me- when I was four.

It was odd, how it started. I was hungry. He was drunk. She was working.

What a day that was...

_The small boy walked down the stairs and saw his father, asleep on the couch. He was weird again. Whenever his father was weird, he smelled terrible, his eyes were cloudy, and he was wobbly when he walked. He always had his belt loose and a bottle in his hand. Worst of all, he was always angry. He would throw things and hit his mother. He would yell at them both._

_But he had never touched his son._

_The boy was hungry and naturally he wanted food. He crept past his father into the kitchen. He dragged a chair over to the cabinets and stood on it, looking around for something to eat._

_But he didn't know that when he dragged his chair, the screech woke his father up. He didn't know that when he slammed the cabinet open, his father would get upset._

_He didn't understand any of that. _

_His father came staggering into the kitchen, eyes blurry and red. Again. "What are you doing, boy?"_

_The small child looked over at his father. "I'm hungry," he said simply._

_"Did I say you could eat?" The man growled._

_"Well, no, but mummy-"_

SMACK! _Tobias slapped his son right across the face. "SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR GOD DAMN BITCH OF A MOTHER! I COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT HER!"_

_Severus started to cry, rubbing his cheek. His father started to scream and he threw Severus from his spot on top of the chair. Punch, kick, slap, kick, slap, punch, punch, punch, shout, punch, kick... over and over. Severus started to wail at the top of his lungs and finally, Tobias couldn't take it any longer. He undid his loose belt, looked over the glinting sharp metal end, and smacked his son with the belt. Over and over again, despite the screams of terror, despite the cuts and gashes. And the blood._

_The front door opened and slammed. Eileen Prince rushed into the kitchen. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO HIM? STOP! STOP! TOBIAS, STOP HITTING HIM!" Tobias turned to his wife and dropped his belt. He grabbed his son by the collar and threw him in the broom closet, locking the door. Severus started banging on the door, sobbing. _

_"SHUT UP!" Tobias screamed at the closet and there was silence. Then Tobias picked the belt up and started hitting Eileen, while the boy cried silently in the closet..._

_Hours later, now locked in his bedroom, Severus couldn't even realize then, that that day was just a foretaste of what was yet to come..._

After that, it seemed he gave any excuse to beat me. Some were more reasonable than others, I had broken something or I had lost my temper. Other times it would be because his supply on beer was low, his lighter wasn't working, or he was just bored. After a while, it was scarce that I would pass a day without being hit.

I often wondered, especially as I got older, why he took such pleasure in hurting me. How did seeing his son- his own flesh and blood- bleeding and sobbing on the floor, make him feel happy? How could he see that his own child's life was shattered, painful, and horrific, and still enjoy being the cause of it? It made very little sense to me.

When I was about eight, I finally voiced these thoughts to my mother, when he was out at a pub and the house was peaceful. I couldn't help it. Because every time, when I lay in my bed and stared up at the ceiling, the same thoughts would come into my mind. The same confusion. The same questions. No answers. I was driving myself mad. So I finally mustered up enough courage to tell my mother what I thought...

_"Why does he hate me so?" her son said, sitting on top of her bed as she tidied up her room._

_"Who, dearest?" she asked, though she knew exactly who he was speaking of. _

_"Father," he said. "Why is happy when he hits me? Does he like to hurt me?"_

_Eileen sighed. "It isn't like that. It's much more complicated than you think."_

_"Please tell me. I want to know."_

_His mother sighed once again and looked up at her 8 year-old son. "He doesn't hate you."_

_"Then why would he hit me?"_

_"He hates me."_

_"I don't understand..."_

_"It's a domino effect, sweetheart. When one thing happens, it leads to something out happening."_

_"So, what happened?" he inquired._

_"He found out I was a witch, which made him feel jealous."_

_"Because he's just a filthy Muggle-"_

_"You know I don't like that talk. Blood matters not. But, yes, he is a Muggle. And his jealousy made him angry and he wanted to escape his pain. So that lead him to drinking."_

_"How does that help escape your pain?" Severus asked. That was dumb. He got even more angry when he was drinking. It didn't make sense._

_"It just... does. One day, you'll understand."_

_"When?"_

_She gave a small laugh. "I don't know! Hopefully not any time soon!_

_"So then what?"_

_"That makes him violent. And because he knows it hurts me more to see you getting hurt, that's what he does. Does that make sense?"_

_He began to comprehend what was said. After thinking for a while, he said: "It's because of magic. Magic must be terrible then."_

_"What? No!" She walked over to her son and sat beside him, holding him in her arms. "No, no, no, no! Magic is good. It is NOT because of magic. Magic is an amazing thing."_

_"But then-"_

_"Hush. That's not the reason why. And it matters not. One day, we'll get out of here. Things will get better. I promise."_

Foolish lies. Her promise never came true. Things never did get better.

Look at me again and look at my scars. You'll see fresh ones. You might wonder where they come from.

I'm not a klutz.

I don't cut myself.

No. Out there, there is still a man who takes pleasure in seeing me in agony.

And that man is not Tobias Snape.


End file.
